"Can machines think?" The problem can be described in terms of the "imitation game", with a man, a woman, and an interrogator. The interrogator stays in a room apart front the other two and tries, by sending questions (perhaps by teleprinter) to the others, to determine which is the man and which the woman. Could a digital computer convince the interrogator that it was a man?
Digital computers work by following written-down rules, called 'programmes', and can even change their own rules in response to other rules. I believe that in about fifty years' time it will be possible to programme computers to make them play the imitation game.
It could be argued that machines cannot have souls, but, if this matters at all, why could not God give a soul to whatever He wants. We cannot know if computers could have consciousness, because we cannot really know if other people have consciousness. Computers can still surprise us with their answers. It might be best to try and build a computer like a human infant, and then programme it to learn.
Alan Turing, 1905
Computing Machinery and Intelligence read more
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